


Always Running

by LiraelClayr007



Series: 31 Days of Ficmas - 2019!! [3]
Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Better With Two, Childhood Memories, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:21:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21658957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiraelClayr007/pseuds/LiraelClayr007
Summary: “You just looked a little blue,” he says. “This always cheers me up. Warms up my insides, reminds me of being a little boy.”She looks at him, surprised. “You had apple cider on Gallifrey?”***In which the Doctor shares a childhood memory.
Relationships: Ninth Doctor/Rose Tyler
Series: 31 Days of Ficmas - 2019!! [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1559875
Comments: 10
Kudos: 46
Collections: 31 Days of Ficmas 2019





	Always Running

“Penny for your thoughts,” the Doctor says, handing Rose a steaming mug. “Hot spiced cider,” he says when she looks at him questioningly.

“I don’t think you’ve ever given me cider before,” she says, taking a cautious sip. “Mmm. Tastes like...cold, cloudless nights with millions of stars spread out like a canopy overhead.”

“That’s lovely. Definitely worth more than a penny,” he says.

She grins. “Next time we’re in London, buy me chips.”

“Done,” he says, and she laughs.

“You just looked a little blue,” he says. “This always cheers me up. Warms up my insides, reminds me of being a little boy.”

She looks at him, surprised. “You had apple cider on Gallifrey?”

His laugh warms her more than the cider. “Close enough. The smell of apples and cinnamon always takes me back to the family barn. I used to sleep out there sometimes, when the weather was right. Often I’d bring cider in a thermos; sometimes I’d perch on a bale of hay, other times I’d curl up on the little bed I had in the loft. Either way the hot cider warmed my belly and helped me to forget about the rest of the world for a time. The air was dusty and the mattress was stuffed with straw, but it was all mine--it was perfect for a little boy who needed to get away.”

They sit in the quiet for a time, the only sound the low thrum of the time rotor hurtling them through the vortex. Finally Rose looks up from her mug and says, “Have you always been runnin’, Doctor?”

He links their arms together--carefully, so as not to spill any cider--and says, “I’m not running now.” Then he grins. “Or, if I am, at least I’m not running alone.”

**Author's Note:**

> 31 Days of Ficmas || Day 3 - Cider


End file.
